Liberals, guns, notwithstanding

Only in Canada, you say

When blacks kill whites it will make all the difference.

The brave, forward-thinking, black Toronto city councillor, Michael Thompson, coupled with church support, persuaded Bostons Reverend Eugene Rivers to visit Toronto to offer his wisdom on gangs and shootings.

It is safe to say that this issue is the single most pressing social problem in Toronto. It has even become a national election issue. And it was Thompson, early on in his rookie term as a councillor, who stood alone in advocating action to deal with the problem.

It is also safe to say that Rev. Rivers has impeccable credentials to opine on this matter. He developed a 10-point crime reduction program and got a buy-in from the black community and the white police in the early 1990s, in the city of Boston, which was experiencing 150 murders a year. Between 1992 and 1996, Bostons violent crime rate dropped by more than 60% because of Mr. Rivers efforts. Dozens of U.S. cities, equally plagued by gangs and killings, are adopting his methods.

Sue-Ann Levy, in the Toronto Sun, reported that only 14 city councillors out of 42 bothered to come out to hear what Rev. Rivers had to say. These are some of the $85,000+ a year elected representatives that Ms. Levy identified as no-shows:

Talk about dead people walking. Even the slaying of a white girl could not stir the interest of this bunch, contrary to the assertions of some black advocates.

The national media versus the national interest

We have a national election underway and there are four national parties competing for your votes. The three big networks, Global television, CBC and CTV, decided that they would only invite the leaders of three of these parties (Liberal, Conservative & NDP) to debate in prime time. But to fill up the vacant podium of the fourth, uninvited leader, they allowed the leader of a party (the Bloc) that does not run candidates outside of Quebec, and whose mission in life is break up the nation, to have equal time.

Shame on the television executives who made that decision.

The Green Party is running over 300 candidates across the country and Jim Harris, the leader of that party, has a number of cogent and relevant things to say to the electorate. Dont let the craven media moguls and nabobs dictate your electoral choices. Google the Green Partys website and decide for yourselves. There is more than simply a "third option" here, as Jack Layton would have you believe.

Whos the American here?

During the television debates, Paul Martin tried his hardest to paint Stephen Harper as an American in Canadian clothing. Then, without missing a beat, Martin promised to make the Supreme Court of Canada the final arbiter in constitutional and human rights issues. No more would parliament be able to pass legislation opting out of the Charter of Rights, if you vote Liberal.

There is nothing more quintessentially American than making the highest court impregnable from legislators.

True to conservative principles, Harper pointed out that the present system works just fine and he will stick with it.

Are there no boundaries to Martins hypocrisy?

This all happened in Canada. Astonishing, but true.

Gary Reid is a freelance writer and a public affairs consultant. Gary Reid, Opinion 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002